LETTERS: Allow consumers to have a say in food safety

Recently, food safety has become a major concern for most of consumers. With several media reports on cases of supplied food stuffs contaminated with dangerous and fatal substances such as heavy metals (mercury), pesticides, antibiotics or disease-causing micro-organisms among others.

This situation has brought fear and uncertainty among consumers on whether the food stuffs they pick up at the groceries are safe, whether the milk could be containing aflatoxin and whether the beef is compromised through inappropriate feeds among others.

Cases of unsafe food are on the rise despite presence of various legislative provisions mandated to ensure that consumer rights especially on food safety are protected. Consumers have a right to expect that the food they purchase and consume is safe and of high quality. No wonder, safety and quality is identified as one the UN guidelines for consumer protection. The Kenya Constitution 2010 gives provisions that guarantees every citizen the right to goods of reasonable quality and to the protection of their health and safety.

Additionally, Food Drugs and Substance Act provides the right of consumers to safety and good quality. The Consumer Protection Act of 2012 also provides for the consumers’ right to goods and services of reasonable quality.

Addressing food safety requires a collaborative approach given the several institutions involved. One of the biggest challenges in Kenya is the fragmented legal framework with the mandate to enforce the laws shared between several agencies, among them: Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs, Anti-Counterfeit Agency, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (Kephis), Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) and Ministry of Health. Ideally, these institutions should work together to ensure the safety of consumers.

However, the current fragmented regulatory approach to food safety has left consumers, especially of ready-to-eat food, exposed to poor quality products which increases the likelihood of contracting foodborne diseases.

In light of the above, Kenya Consumer Protection Advisory Committee (KECOPAC) established under the Consumer Protection Act, 2012 provides recourse channel for consumers in cases of unsafe products. KECOPAC has identified food safety as a major national issue and has highlighted the critical necessity to protect the consumer against food contamination issues that pose a health risk.

It has committed to run it as an anchor theme during the last quarter of 2018 in its second sitting until 2021 to create awareness to consumers on food safety, accountability among relevant bodies and ensure that there are policies in place to protect consumers against unsafe food stuffs.

Such noble initiative is expected to bring the rights of consumers into focus in a market where they have been overlooked for several years.

KECOPAC will embark on consumer education drives and representation in all regulatory bodies to ensure consumers' concerns are articulated in the right forums and ensure that consumer rights on food safety are not infringed upon.KECOPAC will also give advice to consumers on their rights and responsibilities under appropriate laws, and make available to consumers general information affecting their interest while at the same time monitor and keep under review the trading and business practices relating to the supply of food to consumers.

The committee is also committed to working with other regulatory bodies and consumer lobby groups such as Consumer Unity and Trust Society (Cuts) and Cofek in pursuing its key mandate of consumer protection in key areas such as food safety.

Idah Kinya, Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS).